Raj couldn't defend himself and was eventually escorted to the police station by several Officer Jennys.
They needed to verify his identity.
But Raj was smart — he immediately mentioned Professor Oak from Pallet Town. After all, that's where he grew up, and Professor Oak knew him personally.
With such a famous figure to vouch for him, this should be easy, right?
Inside the Viridian City Police Department, Officer Jenny turned on the video monitor and contacted the Pallet Town Pokémon Research Lab.
"Professor Oak, this is the Viridian Police Department," she said. "We have a trainer here with a suspicious identity. He claims to be from Pallet Town."
On the screen, Professor Oak was in the middle of eating hot pot.
"What? A suspicious trainer?" he asked, startled.
"Yes," said Officer Jenny. "He says his name is Raj."
"Raj? Oh, that boy's started his journey?" Professor Oak said, surprised. "Put him on screen. That kid is quite the odd one — didn't even tell me he was leaving, and he never picked up a starter Pokémon! He's just like his father, strange and stubborn."
Officer Jenny turned the camera toward Raj.
"Professor Oak, I'm really sorry for troubling you," Raj said awkwardly.
Professor Oak's eyes widened. "It really is you, Raj! So you've begun your journey? What happened — did you already get into trouble in Viridian City?"
Raj gave a weak laugh. "Yeah, I've started traveling. I caught a Gastly before leaving. I wanted to challenge the Viridian Gym, but it was closed. Then I met this shoe repairman outside… turns out he was actually the infamous Pokémon thief, Lokaki."
Raj explained the situation but carefully left out any mention of his father, Kenji.
Officer Jenny frowned, but Professor Oak quickly waved his hand. "Officer Jenny, this must be a misunderstanding. Raj is from Pallet Town — I've watched him grow up since he was little. There's no way he's with Team Rocket. Please, release him."
Officer Jenny nodded. "Understood, Professor Oak. With your word, we can trust him."
Turning back to Raj, she said apologetically, "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. Team Rocket has been active lately, causing trouble everywhere, so we've been on high alert."
After getting Professor Oak's confirmation, Raj was released from the station without further trouble.
Before leaving, he chatted briefly with Professor Oak and mentioned meeting Ash in the Viridian Forest. But at this point, Ash hadn't made much of a name for himself yet.
Professor Oak's focus was more on his grandson, Gary, who had already captured over ten Pokémon on his journey. In his eyes, Gary had the best chance of becoming a top trainer.
Stepping out of the police station, Raj found himself at a loss for what to do next.
He had originally come to Viridian City hoping to use a long-distance video line to report to his father, but it turned out Kenji had already left the city.
It seemed his father had sacrificed a lot over the years to ensure Raj's safety.
Otherwise, Kenji wouldn't have risked exposing himself so soon.
Raj stopped at a small drink shop, ordered a soda, and sat down to think. He began mentally reviewing the plot of the Pokémon anime — a story he had practically memorized from watching it countless times.
Recently, he'd met Ash just as the latter entered Viridian Forest. By now, Ash should have already earned both the Boulder Badge and the Cascade Badge.
With the luck of a protagonist, Ash defeated Brock at the Pewter City Gym and even recruited him to join his team.
Then, in Cerulean City, he faced the three beautiful Sensational Sisters — Misty's older sisters — and somehow ended up cleaning the Gym… but still walked away with the Cascade Badge.
Along the way, Ash also caught his iconic trio: the fiery Charmander, the loyal Bulbasaur, and the goofy but tough Squirtle — all destined to become powerful members of his team.
Raj chuckled. "Man, he really has it easy."
He wasn't particularly envious, though. He had his own goals.
Thinking back through the anime, Raj recalled that in Mt. Moon, a large group of Clefairy lived there, surrounded by countless Moon Stones.
When he asked his system about it, he learned that each Moon Stone could be exchanged for 2,000 points.
That was a huge opportunity.
Then there was the mysterious giant Pokémon that made strange noises beneath the Bill's Lighthouse, the Fossil Aerodactyl, the Crystal Onix… so many rare encounters Ash never managed to capture.
Raj's eyes gleamed. "Yeah… I'll go after those."
He quickly mapped out his plan:
First, travel across all eight Gym cities and collect the badges needed for the Indigo Plateau Conference.
After all, his father had already arranged for him to get the Earth Badge — which clearly meant Kenji wanted him to compete in the League.
The Indigo League would be the perfect stage for testing his Pokémon's strength.
But in addition to that, there were rare Pokémon scattered between cities that were worth seeking out. If he could capture some of them, they'd become valuable long-term partners.
"I've already wasted enough time in Viridian City," Raj muttered. "Next stop — Pewter City. I'll earn the Boulder Badge, then head to Mt. Moon and deal with those Clefairy to get the Moon Stones."
The only problem was that to reach Pewter City, he'd have to pass through Viridian Forest again.
Raj groaned. "Ugh, I've been stuck there for over ten days already. Those wild Pokémon don't even help with training anymore. What a waste of time."
Then an idea struck him. "Wait — didn't I see some flying vehicles in the Points Mall?"
Opening his system interface, Raj browsed through the items available for exchange. He currently had 15,000 points, a decent amount of savings.
After some scrolling, one item caught his eye — a high-speed airship.
It cost 8,000 points. Painful, but worth it.
"With this, I can travel anywhere without slogging through forests again."
Raj confirmed the exchange, and moments later, a sleek, futuristic airship appeared in his inventory.
He walked out of Viridian City to a secluded area, released the airship, programmed Pewter City as the destination, and grinned.
"Let's fly."
The engines roared softly as the airship lifted off the ground, slicing through the clouds and soaring toward Pewter City.